My way

Recently I was blessed to hear and excellent motivational speech. It included a lot of good principles for being a good decision maker and creating a positive, productive atmosphere. At the end of the speech the presenter shared a video to illustrate the last point: "Choose happiness." In the video, there was a drummer who absolutely stole the show. A young woman was singing, but the drummer was having so much fun they moved the camera to watch him. He really was choosing to enjoy himself:



Fun!

But I could not completely enjoy the moment; I got distracted by the song choice in the video.

My Way is a ballad written by Paul Anka and popularized by Frank Sinatra. It has a catchy melody, builds to a powerful crescendo, and has very proud, even defiant lyrics. I have no doubt that many successful people have considered it to be their anthem as they have looked back over their lives. I know I have heard of it being sung at funerals.

How sad.

"I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway, and more, much more than this, I did it my way."

"Through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up, and spit it out. I faced it all, and I stood tall, and did it my way."

And saddest of all, the ending...

 "For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has not...The record shows, I took the blows, and did it my way."

The anthem of successful people? More like the anthem of the road to hell.

The Scriptures could not be any clearer on what has separated us from our Creator. Start with the garden, where the man and woman decide they know more than God and are going to choose their food their way. A few chapters later, humanity declares "My way!" and tries to build a tower as a monument to themselves - the Tower of Babel. The children of Israel cry out "My way! My way! My way!" as they worship false gods over and over, finding themselves in Babylonian  exile.

On and on it goes. Rulers build empires and kingdoms. Businessmen build large successful corporations. Politicians manipulate the system to their own gain.

But before we point fingers at the powerful...we all do it, don't we? We base families on the sand of giving our children a better (more comfortable) life - we do it our way. We spend our leisure time and our money on whatever makes us happy. We make minute by minute choices based on our way, without a thought of our higher purpose.

All the while subconsciously singing along with Ol' Blue Eyes.

You and I were created for a purpose. Like the rest of the universe, we are designed to reflect the glory of God. What a messed up world we've created by our insistence on our own way. What if more and more of us realized that "my way" is a dead end? That we were made in the image of God and should reflect that image? That we are not like the sun, giving out our own light, but like the moon, reflecting the light of the sun?

It will happen in totality one day, when all who have ever lived will bow down before Jesus. (see Philippians 2:9-11 and Revelation 5:6-14) In the meantime I pray that you and I will, with God's help, live life, not our way, but his way.

200 years

A few days ago in staff meeting at work, someone shared the most amazing video with us. It was amazing because 1) it was a wonderfully clear way to share some very complicated statistical data, and 2) it showed how the wealth and health of the world has changed over time.

Here it is.  You may want to watch it more than once to fully appreciate it. I know I did.

A few things stood out to me as I watched the data move:

• The industrial revolution brought unprecedented opportunity to be healthy and have more resources. When Jesus talked about the wealthy, it was likely a select few. Today - especially compared to then - it is whole countries. Countries where the poor are still way better off than the average person in Third World countries. And way better off than almost anyone was 200 years ago.

• The technological revolution has created unprecedented opportunity for those of us who have been blessed to share the blessing. And - despite the greed of so many - it has happened! Since the advent of modern communication tools (telephone, radio, TV, computers, internet) and travel methods (planes, trains, and automobiles), the poorer countries have made progress you never would have expected. Especially in health, less so in wealth.

• But it's still not enough. While the countries to the bottom left are way better off than they were just a few years ago, they are still lagging far behind.

• I wish I were as optimistic as the guy in the video. But the world is not just going to just naturally converge to the healthy-wealthy corner. 

No, it won't just happen on its own. But I am encouraged. I am encouraged by what I see in the church. You see, it is our responsibility to take care of the oppressed. Jesus proclaimed that as his mission when he started out (Luke 4:16-21), and commanded his followers to care for "the least of these" (Matthew 25:31-46). All through the Scriptures, it tells us to care for the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the oppressed. We can't sit around waiting for governments to do it. It's our job.

And I think it's happening. There is a generation rising that I believe is serious about following Jesus, about executing the reign of the kingdom of God. I can't tell you how many people I know now - especially young people - who are spending time visiting the parts of the world that lag. And not just visiting - finding ways not just to tell them the good news that Jesus loves them, but also to show it by meeting their needs, starting with the most basic physical necessities. Feeding them, clothing them, treating their diseases...and teaching them how to do these things for themselves.

Uganda. Kenya. China. Ethiopia. Rwanda. Ukraine. Waves and waves of Christ-followers spreading the kingdom by going, being, and loving. Advocating the end of slavery at at every turn. Being the hands and feet of the Messiah throughout the world.

Make no mistake, it will all be made right when the King returns. But until then, it's in our hands. We have such marvelous tools. I pray that I will listen when God calls me to do my part. And that he will send waves of workers into the field. Like you maybe.

What an amazing picture this video paints. You can see God working through history as the data points move. I can't wait to see what he does next.

Where is my hope?

The end of the year is approaching. The New Year holiday is normally considered a time for new beginnings, resolutions to do better, the putting behind of the mistakes of the previous year. But this new year comes with a shadow looming over it - something called the "fiscal cliff."

It seems to me as I followed the last election and the news of the day that everyone has financial security on their minds these days. Conversations with friends and work colleagues certainly support this. How do I process all this anxiety as a Christ-follower? Enter the prophet Habakkuk.

Habakkuk lived at one of the most discouraging times any nation ever faced. Israel had been blessed by God, beginning with Abraham's call, continuing through the Exodus and the establishment of a kingdom in Palestine. But now they were facing disaster. God's judgment was coming through the invasion and occupation by the Babylonian Empire. For years it was easy to be thankful to God and bless his name. But now things were getting hard. How to react?

As Habakkuk pondered this, he finally prayed to the Lord in chapter 3 of his book. He told what he saw, and was very open about his fear:

I trembled inside when I heard this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. (v. 16)

But then he uttered these amazing words, words that can transform one's attitude toward trouble, and the fear that accompanies it:

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! (v. 17-18)

And there it is.

Habakkuk's hope was not in the crops and the cattle; in our terms, it was not in his wealth or financial security. He's nervous sure, he expresses that fear. Nothing wrong with facing that human emotion head on, and telling God how he feels. But in the midst of that, he rejoices! He is happy! Why? How? Because his hope is not in those things. He says that God can allow every single one of them to be taken away, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because his hope is in the Lord, not the things of the world.

I have seen first hand that what Habakkuk says is true. I have worshipped with believers in regions of the world where they cannot even imagine the lifestyle we have. You know, the lifestyle that we not only take for granted, but actually get defensive when it's threatened as if it were our right. And you know what? Those Christians have every bit of the joy and contentment in Christ that we do. Maybe even more, because they have not tasted the fruit of material prosperity - fruit that can so easily become a poison to our spiritual health. Compared to us, the "trees have no blossoms" and "there are no grapes on the vines." But they have joy.

So I'm going to pray for the strength not to worry. Our economy may survive the current stress; if that happens, I will continue to be thankful for God's blessings and use the resources he trusts me with to build for the Kingdom. It may not; if that happens, I will rejoice that the Lord is all I need and depend on him to get me from day to day. I'm not going to determine my beliefs (personal, social, political, or otherwise) based on what is best for my lifestyle; I'm going to base them on what is best for God's kingdom.

The fiscal cliff may be a long, hard fall. It may not. Either way, blessed be the name of the Lord.